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After owning a 2013 X5 premium for only a few months, a large crack appeared in the windshield on the passenger side, too large to "patch". Don't recall having a rock hit it. Anyway, called Geico and they use Safelite. I asked for OEM glass and Geico okayed it, Safelite came the next day to my office and replaced it for my $50 deductible. The installer looked at his invoice after the install, went "whew - this was one expensive windshield". The invoice was for close to $900 for the windshield. Don't know if Geico would let me do this a second time.

After owning a 2013 X5 premium for only a few months, a large crack appeared in the windshield on the passenger side, too large to "patch". Don't recall having a rock hit it. Anyway, called Geico and they use Safelite. I asked for OEM glass and Geico okayed it, Safelite came the next day to my office and replaced it for my $50 deductible. The installer looked at his invoice after the install, went "whew - this was one expensive windshield". The invoice was for close to $900 for the windshield. Don't know if Geico would let me do this a second time.

Glad to hear that Geico let you use OEM glass. I have them too, but have never needed to replace glass before.

Hello Thomv. One very inportant question...Who is going to pay for your new windshield? If you have glass coverage, I think it would be prudent to put some effort in to get "factory" glass- - the same glass that new x5's come with. When I had my windshield replaced, this was inportant to me. Keep in mind, the terms "OE" and "OEM" mean different things to different people, and glass adjusters can take advantage of this to reduce their claim costs. Can I guarantee that factory glass is superior to other products?? NO - but if it was good enough to be placed in my truck to begin with, this will be my choice if and when I need to replace again. I have State Farm, and they let my claim go through for factory glass. The amount billed was $1325.

I've had Safelite replace glass on a Lexus twice and a Yukon - all with rain sensors - glass was made in Mexico but I could not tell the difference from the OEM glass.

Safelite is the cheapest aftermarket glass vendor in the US.

Most owners cannot tell one from the other- once they've hacked out the old glass and glued on the new one, taping all the moldings in place, the important points are burried. (Assuming the glass is set at the correct depth witnin the frame, with uniform reveal, etc, etc(

THere is a proper way to remove, prep, and reinstall a glass- safelite DOES NOT follow the mfg specified methods. To me this is a non-starter.

Anyway, lots of people like the results. And insurers REALLY like the cost.

The only vehicles I ever owned that required trip to a glass installer were M-Bs - M-B claimed there was a special "kit" to install the glass and the dealer actually said I should go to a glass installer because "that's who we use anyway". Now this was years ago. I may be wrong but it seems that in my area most dealer service departments turf the glass install out to a contractor. We have had 2 glass replacements on an RX330 we had - one was Safelite, one was at the dealer (they broke the windshield somehow) - one was OE, one was OEM - could not tell the difference. Sold vehicle at 120000 miles - no leaks or distorion. RX350 - on second windshield replaced 30,000 miles ago by safelite - daughter has vehicle - no problems (yet). I requested and got the OEM windshield on my X5 because it literally cracked a few months after purchase and I was p-o'd. I still don't know why a one-foot long crack developed seemingly spontaneously in the windshield.

Bought my 09 X5 35d from a dealer (8 hr drive from me). Advertised with rain sensor wipers. After the first rain and not getting the wipers to work properly, I took the X5 to my dealer (2.5 hrs from me). They said the windshield was not BMW and would not do anymore diagnostics without a replacement. The dealer I bought the X5 from gave me a 90 day warranty on top of the remaining BMW warranty.

The dealer where I bought the X5 is not being overly co-operative. I am just putting together info so I can speak from a relatively informed position. This forum is the best.

Bought my 09 X5 35d from a dealer (8 hr drive from me). Advertised with rain sensor wipers. After the first rain and not getting the wipers to work properly, I took the X5 to my dealer (2.5 hrs from me). They said the windshield was not BMW and would not do anymore diagnostics without a replacement. The dealer I bought the X5 from gave me a 90 day warranty on top of the remaining BMW warranty.

The dealer where I bought the X5 is not being overly co-operative. I am just putting together info so I can speak from a relatively informed position. This forum is the best.

Yup, same issue can happen with the HUD. If you don't use OEM glass, it will not function properly or function at all.

Interesting re: "only OEM glass will work with rain-sensor". Geico always asks if there's a rain sensor although I think theycross-check via VIN. Would not make sense for Geico to pay for a useless piece of glass since the glass-installers usually give a lifetime guarantee on defects. Installers can readily see that there's a rain-sensor - it's hanging behind what looks like a darkened-dotted area on the windshield. All our other vehicles over the years that had rain-sensors and windshield replacements with non-OEM had no problems.